The Nightmare Isn't Over: The Making of Halloween II (2012)
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
There have been several documentaries made about the making of the HALLOWEEN series but, as fans know, you can never have too many. This 45-minute documentary was included on the Shout Factory release of HALLOWEEN II and features a pretty good chunk of the original members, although Jamie Lee Curtis is obviously missing. We get director Rick Rosenthal, composer Alan Howarth, executive producer Irwin Yablans, Tommy Lee Wallace (who'd go onto direct the third film) as well as actors Lance Guest, Leo Rossi, Dick Warlock, Ana Alicia, Nancy Stephens and Tawny Moyer.
The documentary covers pretty much the entire process starting from the early stages of the film getting off the ground and how a lawsuit over THE FOG is what got John Carpenter on board. From here we hear about how the gore level was going to be added and some of the new themes that were brought to the film. It's quite clear that Yablans wasn't overly thrilled with the original screenplay and it seems that there were two difference sides fighting for a different type of picture, which is later explained on why Carpenter came in and directed some new scenes just to spice the picture up.
The entire documentary covers some great topics and all of the people interviewed appear to be having a blast getting to talk about the film. One of the highlights deals with Rossi talking about the hot tub scene and what it was like having cold water in there. Warlock also has some great stories about how he got the job playing Michael Myers and a few of the things that he brought to the film. Overall, this is a very entertaining and fun documentary, although one really wishes Carpenter was here defending his actions.
